Girls Education

Girls Education

Girls Education at Elementary Level

Education of girls has been a high priority with the Government of India. The National commitment to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the 6-14 years age group is now a Fundamental Right of every child in India after the passing of the Constitution (86^th Amendment) Act in December, 2002. 

Reaching out to the girl child is central to the efforts to universalize elementary education. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, or ‘Education for All’ programme recognizes that ensuring girl’s education requires changes not only in the education system but also in societal norms and attitudes. A two-pronged gender strategy has therefore been adopted, to make the education system responsive to the needs of the girls through targeted interventions  which  serve as a pull factor to enhance access and retention of girls in schools and on the other hand, to generate a community demand for girls’ education through training and mobilisation.

The targeted provision for girls under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan include :

·        Free textbooks to all girls upto class VIII

·        Separate toilets for girls

·        Back to school camps for out-of-school girls

·        Bridge courses for older girls

·        Recruitment of 50% women teachers

·        Early childhood care and Education centers in/near schools/convergence with ICDS programme etc.

·        Teachers’ sensitation programmes to promote equitable learning opportunities

·        Gender-sensitive teaching-learning materials including textbooks

·        Intensive community mobilisation efforts

·        ‘Innovation fund’ per district for need based interventions for ensuring girls’ attendance and retention.

Efforts are being made to generate a community demand for girls’ education and enabling conditions for people’s and women’s participation, to create the push factors necessary to guarantee girls education. Motivation and mobilisation of parents and the community at large, enhancing the role of women and mothers in school related activities and participation in school committees, and strengthening the linkages between the school, teachers and communities are some of the ways in which the enabling conditions are being created.

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is a critical and essential input in freeing girls from sibling care responsibilities, leading to their regular attendance in school and in providing school readiness skills to pre-school children. The SSA works in a convergent mode with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme to promote pre-school education by providing for training of Anganwadi workers, primary school teachers, and health workers for a convergent understanding of pre-school and ECCE. The SSA, like other programme in the past, provides funds under Innovative head (Rs. 15 Lakh per district) and under the NPEGEL component (for 3000 educationally backward blocks) to support pre-school component of ICDS or an interim pre-school centre where ICDS does not exist but is needed.

In addition, to target pockets where girls education is lagging behind, the Government of India  has launched two focussed interventions for girls – the National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level (NPEGEL) and the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) to reach out to girls from marginalised social groups in over 3272 educationally backward blocks in the country where the female rural literacy is below the national average and the gender gap in literacy is above the national average.

National Programme for Education of Girls for Elementary Level (NPEGEL)

The NPEGEL, launched in September 2003, is an integral but distinct component of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. It provides additional provisions for enhancing the education of underprivileged/disadvantaged girls at elementary level through more intense community mobilisation, the development of model schools in clusters, gender sensitisation of teachers, development of gender sensitive learning materials, early child care and education facilities  and provision of need-based incentives like escorts, stationery, work books and uniforms etc. for girls.

All Educationally Backward Blocks have been included under NPEGEL.

 

Under NPEGEL, around 40,187 Model cluster schools have been opened, 38,626 ECCE centres are being supported, 38,409 additional classrooms have been constructed, and 2,11,215 teachers have been given training on gender sensitisation, remedial teaching to 11,44,370 girls, bridge course covering 89,462 girls, including additional incentives like uniforms etc. to about 16073048 girls (upto 31^st  January, 2009). An outlay of Rs.578.18 crore was approved under NPEGEL for 2008-09.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV)

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) is a scheme launched in July 2004, for setting up residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging predominantly to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities. The scheme is being implemented in educationally backward blocks of the country where the female rural literacy is below the national average and gender gap in literacy is above the national average. The scheme provides for a minimum reservation of 75% of the seats for girls belonging to SC, ST, OBC or minority communities and priority for the remaining 25%, is accorded to girls from families below poverty line. 

The scheme is being implemented in 27 States/UTs namely: Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

2578 KGBVs were sanctioned by Government of India till date. Of these, 427 KGBVs have been sanctioned in Muslim concentration blocks, 612 in ST blocks, 688 in SC blocks. As on 31^st January, 2009, 2423 KGBVs are reported to be functional (i.e. 94%) in the States and 1,90,404 girls enrolled in them (50,630 SC girls (27%); 58,682 ST girls (31%); 50,161 OBC girls (26%); 18,206 BPL girls (9%); 12,725 Minority girls (7%). Out of the total 2578 sanctioned KGBVs, 547 KGBVs have been constructed + 1262 are in progress and 769 have not been started.  

The Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya scheme is merged with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in the XI^th Plan with effect from 1^st April, 2007.

            The National Evaluation of the KGBV scheme was undertaken between 29^th January to 20^th February 2007 in 12 States of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Orissa, with 12 independent experts in girls education and another joint Evaluation of NPEGEL & KGBV scheme was also undertaken between 19^th November to 14^th December, 2007 in States of Assam, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Mizoram, Tripura and Dadar & Nagar Haveli.

State Initiatives for promoting girls education

·        UP: Meena Manch- Forum for adolescent girls to discuss their own issues and motivate girls to attend school.

·        Haryana: Bicycles are given to girls on joining class VI in a Govt. school located outside the village to prevent dropout at the end of class V and help girls to complete 8 years of schooling16171 girls in 2004-05 and more than 21000 girls 2005-06 benefitted from the programme       

·        Uttar Pradesh:

·        Intensive campaign for community mobilisation in selected villages; 21 days training of instructors; use of TLM; residential arrangement for girls and instructors; arrangements for sports, cultural programmes, life skills.

·        MP : Decentralised provisioning of  additional incentives, e.g.: school uniforms, by the  local bodies, to motivate girls retention in schools.

·        Uttaranchal

·        : Provisioning ECE in a convergent mode with ICDS; SSA supporting with additional TLM; capacity building; honorarium; constructing rooms in primary schools for running ECE centres; relocation of ICDS centres in/near primary schools; synchronized timings of ECE and primary school

·        Orissa – Kalasi Dhara (carrying earthen vessel) - An initiative to mobilise the community and Mother Teacher Associations to monitor the attendance of teachers and children, cleanliness of the school compound, regularity of classes being held. The designated mothers are also required to bring to school those children found to be absent by motivating their parents etc.

·        Bihar: Summer Camps for Remedial Teaching, provided to girls.

·        Madhya Pradesh: Open Learning for

·        many girls who are unable to complete elementary education due to poor access. A tie up with State Open School where there is a 50:50 cost sharing between SSA & State Open School for the girls fees.

Promising Indicators in respect of Girls

·        Increase in Enrolment at primary level by 8.67 % (86.91 % in 2001-02 to 104.7% in
2004-05) and at upper primary level by 13% (52.1% in 2001-02 to 65.1% in 2004-05).

·        Girls constitute 48.09% of total enrolment at primary level and 46.51% at upper primary level (DISE 2006-07).

·        Reduction in dropout rate by 14.46% (from 39.9 % in 2001-02 to 25.42 percentage points in 2004-05

·        Increase in Gender parity:

-   GPI is 0.93 for primary and 0.87 for upper primary (DISE 2006-07). 28 States have primary level GPI over 0.90.

§  Female teachers in schools have increased to 41.86% in 2006-07 (DISE).

§  Girl’s toilets – At present 42.58% schools have girl toilets (DISE 2006-07). Being addressed in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and in convergence with Total Sanitation Programme of Ministry of Rural Development.